The necessity and essence of money. Money turnover 1 necessity and essence of money

In the process of development of commodity exchange, there is a consistent change in the forms of value (a simple or random form of value, then a complete or expanded form passes into the universal, and then into money). Money spontaneously emerged from the general commodity mass at a certain historical stage.

Prerequisites the appearance of money are:

– transition of society from a subsistence economy to a commodity economy;

– social division of labor (agriculture and cattle breeding, and then the allocation of crafts);

– property separation of producers of goods, i.e. the emergence of owners. Necessity The emergence of money became a requirement for equivalent exchange of goods. The emergence of money not only facilitates the exchange of goods, but marks the transition of economic relations to a new qualitative state, as it allows the process of buying and selling goods to be separated in time and space.

Economic essence money lies in the fact that as a result of the development of commodity exchange, a specific commodity type is distinguished from the total mass of all other goods, with the natural form of which the social function of the general equivalent merges.

The essence of money is expressed in the unity of three properties:

– universal direct exchangeability;

– an independent form of exchange value;

– external material measure of labor.

Money is a historical, developing category inherent in commodity production. Since their inception, they have undergone significant changes, manifested in the transition from the use of one type of money to another, as well as in changes in the conditions of their functioning. In certain areas of monetary circulation and in different periods, different kinds(metal, paper, credit) and forms(coins, banknotes, banking instruments, plastic cards, etc.) money.

In pre-capitalist formations, the role of money was played by certain types of goods, different in different areas (furs, shells, livestock, etc.). Then metals (copper, bronze) emerged from the mass of goods, then precious metals - gold, silver, which had certain physical properties - homogeneity of monetary material, divisibility, preservation from damage, transportability, unsuitability for use for production and other purposes in the form of ingots, and then and coins.

With the development of economic relations (the emergence of the capitalist mode of production, which required a significant amount of money), paper money appears, substitutes for real money (banknotes, treasury notes), non-cash money in the form of deposits in bank accounts, non-cash money in non-bank circulation.

In modern conditions, when cash banknotes and non-cash money have a value significantly lower than the denomination indicated on them, we can say that money is increasingly different from goods and is turning into an independent economic category. The functioning of money acquired the features of an independent process and was separated from the movement of goods and services, while retaining some properties inherent in the product (for example, when determining the price of money through supply and demand for it).

B-7095 Test on
discipline “Money, credit, banks” Option No. 1, 11
570 group V year students of the specialty “Accounting, Analysis and Audit”
FZO TSHI NGAU
Anikina Olga Vladimirovna

The essence of money is that it serves as a necessary active element and integral part of the economic activity of society, the relations between various participants and links in the reproduction process.

The essence of money is characterized by the fact that:

1. Money is the universal commodity equivalent.

2. Money serves as a means of universal exchange for goods, real estate, works of art, jewelry, etc.

3. Money improves the conditions for storing value. By storing value in money rather than in goods, storage costs are reduced and spoilage is prevented.

When characterizing money, attention is often paid to its commodity origin and, accordingly, commodity nature. However, gradually, including in connection with the transition from the use of full-fledged money to the use of banknotes that do not have their own value, as well as with the development of non-cash payments, money lost such an inherent feature of goods as the presence of value and use value.

In modern conditions, banknotes and non-cash money do not have their own value, but the possibility of using them as exchange value remains. This indicates that money is increasingly different from goods and is turning into an independent economic category while retaining some properties that make them similar to goods.

Money in its development came in two forms: real money and signs of value (substitutes for real money). Real money is money whose nominal value (marked on it) corresponds to its real value, that is, the value of the metal from which it is made. Initially, both gold and silver coins were in circulation. The country came to gold circulation in the second half of the 19th century. The reason for the transition to gold circulation was the properties of the metal, making it most suitable for fulfilling the purpose of money (homogeneity, divisibility, storability, portability). Due to its stability, real money performed all five functions without hindrance.

The peculiarity of real money is that it has its own value and is not subject to depreciation. This means that if there is full-fledged gold money in quantities exceeding the actual need, they go out of circulation into treasure. On the contrary, when the need for cash in circulation increases, gold coins are freely returned to circulation from the treasure. Thus, gold coins are able to adapt quite flexibly to the needs of circulation without harming the owners of the money.

Under such conditions, there is no need for certain measures to regulate the mass of money in circulation in accordance with the needs of circulation, which is typical for paper banknotes.

However, gold money had significant disadvantages:

gold mining did not keep up with the production of goods and did not meet the full need for money;

gold money of high portability could not serve low-value turnover;

the high cost of using gold money, which costs much more than banknotes made from paper.

Gold circulation did not last long - until the First World War, when warring countries issued tokens of value to cover their expenses. Gradually gold disappeared from circulation.

Substitutes for real money (signs of value) are money whose nominal value is higher than the real value, that is, the social labor spent on their production. These include:

metal signs of value - worn-out gold coins, small coins made of cheap metals copper and aluminum;

paper tokens of value, usually made of paper. There are paper and credit money (banknotes).

Paper money is a representative of real money. The difference between the nominal value of the issued money and the cost of its issue (expenses for paper, printing) forms the emission income of the treasury, which is an essential element of government revenues.

Historically, paper money appeared as a substitute for gold coins in circulation and was issued by the state along with gold coins and, with the aim of introducing them into circulation, was exchanged for them. However, the emergence and then growth of the state budget deficit caused the expansion of the issue of paper money, the size of which depended on the state’s need for financial resources. Paper money performs two functions: a medium of circulation and a means of payment. The economic nature of paper money excludes the possibility of stability of paper money circulation, because their release is not regulated by the needs of trade turnover, and there is no mechanism for automatically withdrawing excess paper money from circulation. As a result, paper money, stuck in circulation regardless of trade turnover, overwhelms circulation channels and depreciates.

Reasons for depreciation:

Excessive issue of paper money by the government;

Decline in confidence in the issuer;

Unfavorable ratio of exports and imports of the country.

So, the essence of paper money is that they act as tokens of value, issued by the state to cover the budget deficit; they are usually irredeemable for gold and are endowed with a forced exchange rate by the state.

Credit money arose with the development of commodity production, when purchase and sale is carried out in installments, that is, on credit. Their appearance is associated with the function of money as a means of payment, where money acts as an obligation that must be repaid after a predetermined period with real money. Their economic importance:

Reflect the need for trade turnover in cash;

Save real money;

Promote the development of non-cash turnover.

Banknote– credit money issued by the Central Bank of the country when performing credit operations carried out in connection with various economic processes. When providing a loan, the bank can allocate its banknotes to the borrower: after the expiration of the loan, the funds provided must be returned to the bank to repay the loan debt.

A classic banknote differs from paper money:

According to the method of issue - paper money is issued into circulation by the Ministry of Finance, (Treasury), banknotes - by the Central Bank;

Features of their release into circulation: banknotes are issued into circulation in connection with credit operations carried out in connection with the real processes of production and sale of products, paper money comes into circulation without such a connection;

Purpose of issue: paper money is issued to finance the state budget deficit, banknotes - to finance various economic processes.

A feature of credit money is that its release into circulation is linked to the actual needs of circulation. This involves the implementation of credit operations in connection with the actual processes of production and sales of products. At the same time, linking the volume of means of payment provided to borrowers with the actual need for turnover in money is achieved. This feature represents the most important advantage of credit money.

If the connection with the needs of circulation is disrupted, credit money loses its advantages and turns into paper money. This is confirmed by the modern experience of monetary circulation in Russia, where banknotes are put into circulation (issued).

The development of market relations in Russia led to a modification of the functions of money. The global nature of commodity-money relations caused the development of the functions of money as a universal equivalent. Currently, all goods, services, natural resources, as well as the intellectual abilities of people to work acquire monetary form.

The qualitatively new role of money (as opposed to money of simple commodity production) is that it turns into money capital or self-increasing value. This role of money can be traced through the five functions of money considered (Table 1).

Table 1 - The role of money as monetary capital

Money serves the production and sale of social capital through a system of cash flows between economic sectors, industries and regions of the country. The organizers of these cash flows are the state, business entities and, partly, individuals. Moreover, the turnover of the value of the social product begins and ends with the owner of the capital.

Initially, the naturalistic theory of credit was substantiated by prominent English economists A. Smith (1723-1790) and D. Ricardo (1772-1823). This theory was adhered to by representatives of the so-called historical school of Germany and Austria, the French economists J. Say, F. Bastia and the American D. McCulloch.

The main postulates of the economists of the naturalistic theory were as follows:

The object of the loan is natural, i.e. non-monetary material benefits;

Credit is a movement of natural goods, and therefore it is only a way of redistributing material values ​​existing in a given society;

Loan capital is identical to real capital, therefore, the accumulation of loan capital is a manifestation of the accumulation of real capital, and the movement of the former completely coincides with the movement of productive capital;

Since credit plays a passive role, commercial banks are just humble intermediaries.

Thus, representatives of the naturalistic school gave a distorted interpretation of the essence of credit and its role in a capitalist economy. The error in their views lay, in particular, in the fact that they did not understand the circulation of industrial capital in three forms and the essence of loan capital as an isolated part of industrial capital in monetary form, and, consequently, the independent role of loan capital and its specifics.

As a result, they interpreted credit as a way of redistributing material assets in kind, whereas in fact credit is the movement of loan capital. By identifying loan and real capital, naturalists did not understand not only the role of credit and its creator - banks, but also its dual nature, due to which credit can contribute to both the expansion of capitalist reproduction and the aggravation of its contradictions.

For all its negative aspects, naturalistic theory had a number of positive aspects: naturalists correctly believed that credit does not create real capital, which is formed in the production process. They showed the dependence of credit on production, without exaggerating its role (unlike representatives of capital creation theory), and emphasized the dependence of interest on the fluctuations and dynamics of profit.

Thus, naturalistic theory contained contradictory interpretations of credit.

The basic concepts of this theory were formulated by the English economist J. Law (1671-1729). According to his views, credit occupies a position independent of the reproduction process, and it plays a decisive role in the development of the economy. All subsequent elements of the capital-creative theory flowed from this basic postulate.

Credit was identified with money and wealth. According to Law, credit can set in motion all the untapped production capabilities of the country, creating wealth and capital. He viewed banks not as intermediaries, but as creators of capital. Law came up with the idea of ​​​​organizing a bank of issue, with the help of which all the productive forces of society could be set in motion and the country could be enriched. However, these ideas failed in practice. Thus, as Minister of Finance of France in 1719, Law in 1720 transformed his private bank into the state-owned Royal Bank, which issued banknotes in the order of accounting bills and exchanged them for silver. However, the issue of unsecured money associated with the acquisition of shares in the Company India led to their depreciation, the bank burst, and Law fled the country.

The main flaw in Law's theory was that he relied on the issue of banknotes with a forced exchange rate, which was of a speculative nature. However, Law turned out to be a prophet for the future, since credit relations were widely developed in the 19th-20th centuries.

As the credit system of capitalism, joint stock companies, and the introduction of check circulation developed, Law's ideas were developed by a number of English and French economists. Thus, the English economist G. Macleod (1821-1902) became the largest follower of the capital creation theory. His concept was that money and credit, having purchasing power, are wealth. Credit brings profit, and therefore is “productive capital,” and banks are “credit factories,” because they create credit, and therefore capital. However, the capital-creation theory erroneously interpreted credit, believing that money, credit and capital are the same concepts. But the connection between money and credit is not identical, since money is divided into paper and credit. In addition, representatives of the theory mistakenly believed that credit and money are wealth, since checks, stocks, bonds can be exchanged for money, and banks create capital through their active operations. Representatives of this theory did not understand that the size of a bank loan is determined by the conditions of capitalist reproduction, and not by the banks’ own desire to establish the volume of loan operations.

Followers and theorists of the capital-creative concept at the beginning of the 20th century. became Western economists I. Schumpeter (Austria), A. Hahn (Germany), J. Keynes and R. Hawtrey (England). Hahn and Schumpeter considered banks to be omnipotent because credit creates deposits and hence capital. They believed that credit could be unlimited, and therefore the deposits and capital it created were unlimited. In their opinion, inflationary credit (that is, credit capable of limitless expansion) is the driving force of reproduction, economic development and promotes constant economic growth. Therefore, their theory was also called the “expansionist theory of credit.” Supporters of the late capitalist theory were united by the fact that they gave preference to the sphere of circulation over production. The fallacy of the views of Hahn and Schumpeter was that it justified credit expansion and inflation and contributed to the aggravation of the contradictions of capitalist reproduction

1. Beloglazova G.N. Money, credit, banks: Textbook / G.N. Beloglazova. – M.: Yurayt, 2010. – 620 p.

2. Ivanov V.V., Sokolov B.I. Money. Credit. Banks: Textbook / V.V. Ivanov, B.I. Sokolov. – M.: Prospekt, 2009. – 848 p.

3. Oleynikova I.N. Money. Credit. Banks: Textbook / I.N. Oleinikov. – M.: Master, 2009. – 509 p.

4. Kulikov A.G. Money, credit, banks: Textbook / A.G. Kulikov. – M.: Knorus, 2009. – 656 p.

5. Merkulova I.V. Money, credit, banks: Textbook / I.V. Merkulova. – M.: Knorus, 2010. – 352 p.

Introduction. 2

1. The necessity and essence of money. 4

2. Functions of money. 9

3. The role of money in a market economy. 18

Conclusion. 20

List of used literature. 22

Introduction.

Money plays a fundamental role in all modern economies. Moreover, they seem to be such a natural characteristic of the economy that we cannot imagine what life would be like without them, probably extremely difficult. Even carrying out simple purchase and sale transactions would be too difficult and burdensome.

We are all intimately connected to money—to the cash in our pockets, to our checking accounts, to the value of our wealth. But we rarely think about how strange the nature of money is. We spend our energy on making money, but every banknote is just a piece of paper that has no intrinsic value. Only the government can print money, but there is far more money in the form of checking and savings accounts than the government has ever issued.

Our modern financial system, containing cash, checks, automatic payment machines and a variety of complex financial instruments, did not arise overnight. But the core of this system is money.

Money is an item that serves as a generally accepted medium of exchange or means of payment. The most essential characteristic of money is that it is accepted by everyone in society as a means of payment. In this case, it does not matter at all what the product used as money is. Thus, dog teeth will be exactly the same money as dollar bills if all other people agree to accept them in transactions.

The first type of money was goods. Gold and silver were also used as money. Today, however, this is history. Over time, paper money and then checking accounts became the universal means of payment. They all have the same fundamental property - they are accepted as payment for goods and services.

In my work I will consider the origin of money, the essence of money and its role in a market economy. Since the essence of money can be most fully characterized through the functions it performs, in this work the following functions of money will be analyzed:

Money as a measure of value;

Money as a medium of exchange;

Money as a means of accumulation;

Money as a means of payment;

The implementation of the function of world money involves the establishment of a certain combination of alternative situations in three key areas.

Firstly, there is a dilemma between the material, material universal monetary equivalent, on the one hand, and symbolic, symbolic, decretal (“chartal”) money, on the other.

Secondly, in the process of functioning of world money, there is an interaction between two levels of economic activity - micro and macroeconomic.

Thirdly, one or another relationship is established between the two poles of the dichotomous link “rules - discretion”. This refers to the degree of autonomy of behavior, freedom of action in the field of international payment relations of both private entities and government bodies.

The function of world money is manifested in relationships between countries or between legal entities and individuals located in different countries. In such relationships, money is used to pay for purchased goods, when making credit and some other transactions. When various countries used full-fledged money that had its own value, no serious complications arose with its use in international relations. Here, the money of individual countries could be used for settlements with other countries, based on the actual value of the monetary unit of each country.

When the transition to inferior money was made, the previous practice turned out to be insufficiently acceptable. Under the new conditions, payments between countries began to be made using freely convertible currencies (US dollars, yen, euros, etc.) or in such international units as ECU (European Currency Union).

If a payer located in Russia has a non-convertible currency, he can exchange it for a freely convertible currency at the applicable rate and, subject to permission, make a transfer to other countries. On the contrary, when freely convertible currency arrives from abroad, it is credited to a transit account. From this account, part of the received convertible currency can be sold into local currency at the applicable rate, and if permission is available, part of the currency can be used for settlements with foreign correspondents. This means that the function of world money can be performed by monetary units of freely convertible currencies. Non-convertible monetary units cannot perform this function.

An urgent problem in economics is the analysis of the functions of money. Their modification is indisputable as commodity-money relations develop. Thus, modern forms of money, not having their own value, perform the function of commensurate value, and not a measure of value. Some Western economists have reduced this function to that of an accounting tool. The functions of money as a means of payment and medium of circulation, like other functions, have also undergone changes. In economic literature, especially in the works of foreign authors, it is often recognized that money in circulation performs only one function - a medium of circulation - instead of two functions - a medium of circulation and a means of payment. This position takes into account the similarity of transactions involving the transfer of money to pay for goods and to pay debts. Thus, when characterizing one function - the medium of exchange - it is noted that it consists of “... money used to pay for goods and services. And also to pay debts.”

Proponents of this position ignore the fact that, despite the similarities in the operations of paying for goods and paying debts, there are significant differences between them. On the contrary, when selling goods on the terms of immediate payment, credit relations do not arise between the participants in such transactions. And when paying debts, credit relations exist between participants in transactions. It is these circumstances, taking into account the different nature of the relations between participants in monetary circulation, that determine the validity of distinguishing two functions in monetary circulation - a medium of circulation and a means of payment.

The monetary function of savings and savings is wrongfully ignored. The function of world money is absent or is considered as a synthesis of the other four functions, although when this function is performed instead of gold by the leading national freely convertible currencies, it is advisable to isolate it as an independent object of analysis. This is due to the fact that the concept of world currency acquires special significance in the context of economic globalization and competition between leading currencies - the dollar, euro, yen.

Money plays a key role in a market economy. This is manifested in the following.

Firstly, the social role of money, its function in the economic system is that money acts as a social link between commodity producers.

Being concretized in a specific object that has value, they act as a general condition of social production, an “instrument” of social economic relations of independent commodity producers, an instrument for spontaneous accounting of social labor in the commodity economy.

Secondly, money acquires a qualitatively new role - it becomes capital, or self-increasing value. Money turns into money capital in the reproduction of individual capital due to the fact that its functioning is included in the circuit of industrial capital, and it represents the starting point and result of the latter’s circuit.

Money also serves the production and sale of social capital, acting in the form of cash flows that move both within the first division (production of means of production) and within the second (production of consumer goods), as well as between them.

The role of money as capital is manifested through its functions. Thus, the cost of goods produced in enterprises is expressed in money; At the same time, money serves as a measure of value and monetary capital.

If the products of an enterprise are sold for cash, and the proceeds are used to buy means of production, then money serves both as a means of circulation and as capital. But if products are sold on credit and, upon expiration of the loan period, debt obligations are repaid with money, then here they serve both as a means of payment and as capital.

And finally, if an enterprise opens a subsidiary abroad, then money in this case acts both as world money and as capital.

Thirdly, with the help of money, the formation and redistribution of national income occurs through the state budget, taxes, loans and inflation.

Fourthly, money is the object of monetary regulation of the economies of industrialized countries, based on the monetarist theory of money. In these countries, taking into account general economic objectives, a monetary benchmark for changes in the money supply is established for a year (in Russia for a month) and, in accordance with it, it is regulated with the help of credit instruments of the central bank.

Monetary regulation, as a rule, is aimed at restraining the growth of the money supply, overcoming inflationary processes and stimulating GNP growth.

Conclusion.

Money is a special commodity that serves as a universal equivalent. They greatly simplify the circulation of goods and services between producers and buyers. That is, money is a historical category inherent in commodity production.

How important is money to economic prosperity and well-being? How and in what ways can they affect output, employment and prices? The economic importance of money cannot be overestimated. Without understanding the essence of money and its functions, it is impossible to understand the operation of the mechanisms of a market economy, and most importantly, the impact on them. If we want to understand what “the economy” is and how the processes occurring in it affect the life of our society, we need to study money, its essence and functions.

The essence and role of money is most accurately revealed through the functions it performs. Money functions as a medium of exchange. They allow you to pay resource owners and producers with a product (money) that can subsequently be used to purchase any other product or service available on the market. As a means of exchange, they avoid the inconvenience of barter exchange.

Money functions as a measure of value. That is, they make it possible to quantitatively measure the value of a product. The cost measure function is implemented based on the price scale. With its help, the price of a product, as an indicator of the value of value, is converted into a list price or market price, expressed in national monetary units. This function can be disrupted by rapid inflation. We constantly encounter this phenomenon in modern Russia. Since 1992, in our country one can observe the process of “dollarization” of the economy, that is, often the prices of certain goods and services are calculated in American dollars, since prices in them remain stable, while in rubles during periods of rapid inflation, prices change greatly.

The next function of money is that of a store of value. That is, money temporarily withdrawn from circulation for the purpose of accumulation serves as a means of creating wealth. The market system makes it possible to transform wealth into profit-generating capital. Mainly this transformation is carried out through the credit system and means channeling money into investment in the economy. Money that does not go into investment, but is simply accumulated, is actually lost for social production. This function of money, as well as the function of a measure of value, is violated in conditions of rapid inflation, since accumulated money loses its nominal value under the influence of inflation. A clear example is our country, whose population and production have more than once lost their savings since the beginning of the reforms, which means that the national currency actually ceased to serve as a means of accumulation.

Money also serves as a means of payment. Items cannot always be sold for cash. Therefore, there is a need to sell goods on credit, that is, with a deferred payment of money. However, upon expiration of the loan term, the buyer, who is actually the debtor, is obliged to pay the seller the amount of money expressed in the promissory note. As a means of repaying a debt obligation, money serves as a means of payment. This function of money is violated if the actual debtor does not pay his obligations. In the Russian Federation, such a violation is common in the field of payments between enterprises. Normalization of the circulation of cash and non-cash money is impossible without clearing the debt hole of mutual non-payments. This means that successful development of the real sector of the economy is impossible.

List of used literature.

1. Introduction to market economics: Textbook / Ed. Livshitsa A.Ya., Nikulina I.N., Gruzdeva O.A. and others - M.: Higher School, 1994 - 447 p.

2.Money. Credit. Banks: Textbook for universities / E.F. Zhukov, L.M. Maksimova, A.V. Pechnikova, etc.; Ed. prof. E.F. Zhukova. – M.: UNITY, 2001. – 622 p.

3.Money, credit, banks: Textbook / Ed. O.I. Lavrushina. – M.: Finance and Statistics, 2002.- 448 p.

4. Dolan E. J. Money, banking and monetary policy / Ed. Lukashevich V.V., Yartseva M.B. - St. Petersburg, 1994 - 448 p.

5. Krasavina L.N. Problems of money in economics / Money and credit No. 10/2001

6. The role of money in the Russian economy / Financier No. 1/1999

7. Smyslov D.V. World money in the past, present and future / Money and credit No. 5/2002.

Marx K., Engels F. Soch., 2nd ed. – T. 23. – P. 153.

Introduction. 2

1. The necessity and essence of money. 4

2. Functions of money. 9

3. The role of money in a market economy. 18

Conclusion. 20

List of used literature. 22

Introduction.

Money plays a fundamental role in all modern economies. Moreover, they seem to be such a natural characteristic of the economy that we cannot imagine what life would be like without them, probably extremely difficult. Even carrying out simple purchase and sale transactions would be too difficult and burdensome.

We are all intimately connected to money—to the cash in our pockets, to our checking accounts, to the value of our wealth. But we rarely think about how strange the nature of money is. We spend our energy on making money, but every banknote is just a piece of paper that has no intrinsic value. Only the government can print money, but there is far more money in the form of checking and savings accounts than the government has ever issued.

Our modern financial system, containing cash, checks, automatic payment machines and a variety of complex financial instruments, did not arise overnight. But the core of this system is money.

Money is an item that serves as a generally accepted medium of exchange or means of payment. The most essential characteristic of money is that it is accepted by everyone in society as a means of payment. In this case, it does not matter at all what the product used as money is. Thus, dog teeth will be exactly the same money as dollar bills if all other people agree to accept them in transactions.

The first type of money was goods. Gold and silver were also used as money. Today, however, this is history. Over time, paper money and then checking accounts became the universal means of payment. They all have the same fundamental property - they are accepted as payment for goods and services.

In my work I will consider the origin of money, the essence of money and its role in a market economy. Since the essence of money can be most fully characterized through the functions it performs, in this work the following functions of money will be analyzed:

Money as a measure of value;

Money as a medium of exchange;

Money as a means of accumulation;

Money as a means of payment;

World money.

1. The necessity and essence of money.

Money is one of those things that accompanies us throughout our lives. Money casts a spell on people. Because of them they suffer, for them they work. They come up with the most ingenious ways to spend it. Money is the only commodity that cannot be used otherwise than to free oneself from it. They will not feed you, clothe you, shelter you, or entertain you until you have used them up. People do almost everything for money, and money does almost everything for people.

However, how did money come into being? In primitive societies, when market relations were not yet established, natural exchange prevailed, i.e. one product was exchanged for another without the mediation of money (T - T). The act of purchase was also an act of sale. A direct exchange of goods for goods can only take place if the seller has a need for exactly the goods that are offered for exchange by the other party. This also presupposes that other commodity producers have the opportunity to present for exchange products needed by a given manufacturer, and accordingly, this manufacturer has products needed by another commodity producer.

Consequently, the exchange of goods can occur if the parties entering into the exchange transaction have the necessary goods. However, this significantly limits the possibilities of exchanging goods. In addition, during exchange, the interests of commodity producers must be taken into account and the requirement of equivalence of the value of the goods exchanged must be met, which in turn also limits exchange, including due to the indivisibility of the goods exchanged (for example, cattle).

People still return to spontaneous natural exchange. In international trade, barter transactions are still carried out today, where money acts only as units of account. In a system of mutual settlements (clearing), the difference is usually repaid by additional deliveries of goods.

As exchange expanded, especially with the emergence of a social division of labor between product producers, difficulties arose in barter transactions. Barter became cumbersome and inconvenient. The owner of the fish, in order to preserve its value and facilitate further exchange transactions, will probably try to exchange his fish for such a product that can most often be found on the market.

Thus, some goods, acquiring a special status, began to play the role of a general equivalent. Moreover, this status was established by general consent, and was not imposed by someone from the outside. Among some peoples, wealth was measured by the number of heads of livestock, and the herds were driven to the market to pay for intended purchases. The acts of purchase and sale no longer coincide, but are separated in time and space. In Russia, exchange equivalents were called “kunami” - from marten fur. In ancient times, “fur” money was used in part of our territory. And money in the form of leather circulated in remote areas of the country almost in Peter’s times.

The development of crafts and especially metal smelting simplified matters somewhat. The role of intermediaries in exchange is firmly assigned to metal ingots. Initially it was copper, bronze, iron. These exchange equivalents expand their scope and stabilize, thereby becoming genuine money in the modern sense. The exchange is already carried out according to the formula T – D – T.

The fact of the appearance and spread of money does not directly lead to an increase in the consumption of goods and services in society. They consume only what is produced, and production is the result of the interaction of labor, land and metal. The indirect influence of money on production is undeniable. Their use reduces costs, the time required to find a partner, promotes further specialization of labor and the development of creativity.

As social wealth increases, the role of the universal equivalent is assigned to precious metals (silver and gold), which, due to their rarity, high value with low volume, homogeneity, divisibility and other useful qualities, were, one might say, doomed to play the role of monetary material for a long time. period of human history.

The emergence of money and its use was accompanied by important consequences. The emergence of money made it possible to overcome the narrow framework of mutual exchange of goods between individual producers and create conditions for the emergence of a market in the operations of which many owners of different goods could participate. This, in turn, contributed to the further development of production specialization and increased efficiency.

The use of money is no longer limited to participation as an intermediary in the processes of exchange of goods. On the contrary, the functioning of money acquires the features of an independent process: commodity producers can store the money received from the sale of their goods until they purchase the desired product. From here, monetary savings arose, which could be used both to purchase goods and to lend money and pay off debts.

As a result of these processes, the movement of money acquired an independent meaning and was separated from the movement of goods.

The functioning of money gained even greater independence in connection with the replacement of full-fledged money, which has its own value, with banknotes, as well as with the subsequent abolition of the fixed gold content of the monetary unit. At the same time, money that did not have its own value began to function in circulation, which made it possible to issue banknotes in accordance with the need for circulation, regardless of the presence of gold backing.

The independence of the functioning of money expanded significantly with the advent of non-cash payments, including payments based on the use of electronic technology.

The essence of money is that it serves as a necessary active element and integral part of the economic activity of society, the relations between various participants and links in the reproduction process.

The essence of money is characterized by its participation in:

Implementation of various types of social relations;

Distribution of gross national product (GNP), in the acquisition of real estate and land;

Determination of prices expressing the cost of goods.

The production of goods (provision of services) is carried out by people using tools and objects of labor. Produced goods have a value that is determined by the total volume of the transferred value of tools and objects of labor, and the value newly created by living labor.

This means that the price, determined in accordance with the socially necessary level of costs for the production of individual goods, allows commodity owners to claim other goods in an amount equal to the cost of the goods produced. This is facilitated by compliance with the requirement of equivalence, fulfilled with the help of money.

In addition, the essence of money is characterized by the fact that it:

- servea means of universal exchange for goods, real estate, works of art, jewelry, etc. This feature becomes noticeable when compared with the direct exchange of goods (barter). The fact is that individual goods can also be exchanged for others on barter terms. However, such exchange opportunities are limited by the framework of mutual need and compliance with the requirement of equivalence of such transactions. Only money has the property of universal direct exchangeability for goods and other values.